Houston Dynamo/Chivas USA Preview

Dynamo team captain Brad Davis leads the Houston into the StubHub Center on Saturday night

James Roesch

Not since 2007-2008, have the Houston Dynamo had a winless streak this long, this early in the season. Now though, the Dynamo have an opportunity to get healthy rather quickly against a familiar opponent in Chivas USA.Houston owns the all-time series record 11-2-5 including a 5-1 win at the StubHub Center last season.Houston has 33 goals in franchise history against Chivas including goals from eight different Dynamo players of whom four and possibly five are expected to see action. Chivas on the other hand has just one current player who has hit the back of the net against the Dynamo.Both teams are currently mired in eighth place in their respective conferences. Both have scored eight goals and allowed nearly identical 14 and 13 goals against respectively for Chivas and Houston.Both teams are also winless when allowing the opposition to score the first goal.So how do the Dynamo become healthy?First, this is a team not lacking in confidence having been through similar adversity before. The 2007 MLS Cup champion Dynamo opened the season 2-5-1 before finishing 15-8-7. In 2008, Houston opened at 2-2-4 before closing the season at 13-5-12. Last season the men in orange endured a seven game winless streak and went to the conference finals.Midfielder Andrew Driver is convinced that the Dynamo are on the right track following their 1-1 draw with Seattle.“I think we showed a lot more today, I think we were the team that was pushing towards the end to get a win and obviously we’re disappointed with the draw but I think there were a lot more positives there,” said Driver.Second, the Dynamo are scoring goals early this season. Unlike 2013, the Dynamo have scored most of their goals in the opening 45 minutes of play. After eight games the team ranks first in shots, sixth in shots on goal and fourth in corner kicks.Third, Chivas USA keeper Dan Kennedy is sitting out the game after being issued a red card against San Jose.Come late Saturday night, the Houston Dynamo should have received their first dose of relief from their winless streak.

Share this article

Lou Roesch is a former sports editor and now free lance sports writer. This one time soccer prospect for the Dayton Dynamo of the NPSL and current season ticketholder for the Houston Dynamo is a long time St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan married to a long time Chicago Cubs baseball fan and is passionate about all things sports.